Morbidelli Dreambike Draws Closer To Reality
MORBIDELLI DREAMBIKE DRAWS CLOSER TO REALITY
ROUNDUP
GIANCARLO MORBIDELLI has a motorcycling fantasy. He’s also got the loot to make it come true.
Morbidelli's fantasy is limited production of a high-performance sport-touring bike styled by Pininfarina and powered by an 848cc V-Eight engine.
If the name Morbidelli is familiar, it’s because using bikes built and prepared at his factory in Pesaro, on Southern Italy’s Adriatic coast, Morbidelli won 125cc world roadracing championships in 1975, ’76 and ’77, and the 250cc crown in 1977.
Morbidelli manufactures high-tech, computer-controlled woodworking machines. It’s a profitable business, and that’s good, for Morbidelli says there is no way his V-Eight can turn a profit. It is merely an affair of the heart.
And what a heart. In this case, it’s got liquid cooling and 32 valves, and puts its power out through a driveshaft-all designed by former Alfa Romeo engineer Giorgio
Valentini to be the image of a miniature Cosworth DFV The engine is mounted longitudinally and uses four camshafts
driven by gears and belts. Peak power is 100 horses at 10,500 rpm (with much more power available by changing an
EPROM chip, according to factory insiders).
Final chassis specs have not yet been set, but styling drawings show that the engine sits exposed, uncovered by bodywork. It’s impossible to predict how the bike will perform, but there is the potential of some very serious performance, especially if chassis designer Edmondo Rossi’s aim to keep dry weight below 440 pounds is realized.
That lightness will be balanced by a heavy price tag.
How much? “I don’t know the price because I haven’t thought about it,” admits Morbidelli, who adds, “Buyers of this bike will be special people.”
If the Morbidelli V-Eight experience sounds irresistible, rest assured that you have plenty of time to save up the necessary lire. The bike will not be ready this year, and it may not be finished in 1994, either.
Says designer Rossi, “There is no problem of time. We will simply take as long as we need to get everything right.”
Roland Brown
